Mass Effect: Hope
by moneychex
Summary: Blair Carver is in for a fight of his life, as he and his crew fight a terrorist organization known as the Apex Elite.
1. Prologue

Mass Effect: Hope  
Prologue: The Catalyst

Author's Note: As I have people reading this who haven't played Mass Effect, and probably never will. **THIS IS ONLY FOR PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW THE ENDING OF MASS EFFECT**** 3.** Skip to the next chapter for the real story.

As I make a rush for the beam, I look around me. Soldiers are getting obliterated by Harbinger's beams. "I gotta make it to the Citadel." I say in my mind. This war has been going on for years, from the day I met Ashley on Eden Prime, to where Kaidan sacrificed himself on Virmire, to the day we defeated Saren and Sovereign. From me dying, to Cerberus rebuilding me, to building one of the biggest teams in the galaxy to stop the Collectors. Now we're here on Earth, after all the deaths, romance, and drama. After what seems like forever, a beam strikes a Mako tank and it flips over. I jump out of the way, and thankfully it misses me. I look back at my squad of Ashley and Tali as they run to catch up to me. My heart sinks when another Mako tank gets flipped over and heads towards them. They jump out of the way but the explosion hits them. I run over, jumping over the tank and dashing towards them. I help Tali up, but Ashley doesn't need my help, she never has. "Shepard to Normandy, I need an evac, now!" Joker, the pilot of the Normandy responds and I can barely make out what he says. "We're taking heavy losses up here, Commander...but we're on our way." I watch as the Normandy flies down with the defense team protecting it. I rush Tali to the spaceship, but she tries to resist. "Here, take her!" I tell Ashley, handing over Tali. "Shepard…" Tali responds. "You gotta get out of here." I tell Tali. "I can't stay behind." Tali replies. "Don't argue with me Tali." "Don't leave me behind." Tali replies. "I need you to make it out of here alive Tali...go back to Rannoch, build yourself a home." I say. "I have a home...come back to me…" Tali replies. I look over at Harbinger who appears to be getting ready to fire a beam. "GO!" I yell. As the Normandy starts to fly away, I look at Tali once more, I remember the young quarian on her pilgrimage I saved from an ambush on the Citadel, and remember how much she's grown as a person. But I can't regret my decision now, I run as fast as I can towards the beam that will take me into the Citadel. Suddenly, I trip and fall on the ground, I slowly get up...only to be blasted by a giant laser beam.

I should be dead...but I'm not. I awaken in a pool of my own blood, somehow still alive, my body hurts like hell. It feels like I'm in a bad nightmare of some sorts, everyone around me is dead, at least Tali made it out alive. I get up and walk slowly, like a zombie towards the beam. As I approach the beam a Marauder jumps out and shoots me in the arm, I take out my pistol and kill it. Great, now my arm hurts even more. I get to the beam and get thrown in the air.

I get flung into the Citadel, I don't know how my body can take all this, however, I've died once and was brought back to life. I awaken in a room, filled with decomposing corpses. Admiral Anderson tells me it reminds him of my description of the Collector base back when I was with Cerberus. I continue my walk through this dark, disturbing room, when a door opens revealing a light ahead, it's the control panel! I need this to open the arms of the Citadel to dock the Crucible, the weapon that could end this war, and defeat the Reapers. As I approach the room, I see Anderson is already there. I walk towards him. "Anderson!" I yell...but as he turns around something is wrong.

I start to hear whispers in my head, and I start to get a headache. "Shepard...I..I can't…" Anderson replies. I then hear the voice of the man who has been causing me trouble for the majority of this war. "I underestimated you Shepard…" says The Illusive Man. "I warned you...control is the means to survival...control of the Reapers...and of you if necessary." "They're controlling you!" Anderson says to Illusive Man. "I don't think so Admiral." "Controlling me...is a lot different than controlling a Reaper." I say to The Illusive Man. "Have a little faith." he responds. "When humanity discovered the mass relays, when we learned there was more to the galaxy than we imagined. There were some who thought the relays should be destroyed. They were scared of what we would find, terrified of what we might let in. But look at what humanity has achieved, since that discovery we've advanced more than the past ten thousand years combined! The Reapers will do the same for us again, a thousand fold. But…" His controlling power makes me lift my gun towards Anderson. "Only if we can harness their ability to control." "Bullshit, we destroy them, or they destroy us!" Anderson replies. "And waste this opportunity? Never." "You're playing with things you don't understand. With power you shouldn't be able to use." I tell The Illusive Man. "I...don't believe that...if we can control it, why shouldn't it be ours?" he tells me. "Because we're not ready!" I try to explain to him. "No, this is the way humanity must evolve." "There's always...another way…" replies Anderson. "I've dedicated my life to understanding the Reapers, and I know with certainty, the Crucible will allow me to control them." "And then what?" I ask. "Look at the power they wield, look at what they can do!" With that, his power makes me shoot Anderson in the stomach, I just shake my head in disgust. "I see what they did to you!" "I took what I wanted from them...made it my own! This isn't about me or you! It's about things so much bigger than all of us!" "He's wrong, don't listen to him!" says Anderson. "And who will you listen to Shepard? An old soldier stuck in his ways? Only able to see the world down the barrel of a gun? And what if he's wrong? What if controlling the Reapers is the answer?" "If we destroy the Reapers this ends today! What if you can't control them?" I say. "But I can!" he yells. "Are you willing to bet humanity's existence on it?" "I...know...it can work!" he responds "You can't...can you? They won't let you do it." "NO! I'm in control, no one is telling me what to do!" he responds. "Listen to yourself...you're indoctrinated." Anderson says. "No...NO! the two of you..so self righteous. Do you think power like this comes so easy? There are sacrifices!" "You sacrificed too much…" I reply. "Shepard..I..I only wanted to protect humanity, the Crucible can control them, I know it can! I just…" "It's not too late...let us go...we'll do the rest." I reply. "I...I...can't do that commander…" he responds. "Of course you can't….they own you now!" says Anderson.

The Illusive Man grabs Anderson's gun. "You...you'd undo everything I've accomplished, I won't let that happen." "Because of you humanity is already undone." I say. "That's not true!" "They have the Citadel! They got us fighting each other instead of fighting them!" I say. "I just need to…" "You've done exactly what the Reapers wanted, you're still doing it, because they control you!" I say. "I...they're too strong!" says The Illusive Man trying to break free. "You're stronger! Don't let them win! Break their hold! Don't let them control you!" I say. He looks at me one last time with his cold, blue eyes. "I tried...Shepard." He place the gun towards his head….and pulls the trigger…his body drops to the ground. Free from his grasp, I walk towards the control panel, and open the Citadel arms. I take a seat besides Anderson. "Commander…" he says. "We did it…" I respond. "Yes...we did…" We both take a look at Earth still under attack by Reapers. "It's quite a view…" says Anderson. "Ha...best seats in the house…" I reply. "God...feels like years, since I've just sat down…" says Anderson. " "I think you've earned a rest." I respond. "Anderson?" He starts to mumble. "Stay with me Anderson. We're almost through this." I say. "You did good son...you did good….I'm proud of you…" says Anderson. "Thank you sir...Anderson?" I look over and see Anderson...no longer living. I think of my whole life, and how Anderson has done so much for me. I look down at my wounds, when suddenly. "Shepard, Commander?" It's Admiral Hackett. I'm starting to get weak. "I...what do you need me to do?" "Nothing's happening, the Crucible's not firing, It must be something on your end." I'm in so much pain...but I have to end this mission, I crawl towards the control panel, with my last breaths of air. "I don't see….I'm not sure how to…." My world goes black.

I wake up, in a mysterious room...there are only three paths in this room and no exit. To the left is a blue looking machine, in front of me is a giant beam, and to the right is a red looking explosive tank of some sorts. Suddenly a ghostly presence in the form of a child walks up to me. He explains that the Citadel isn't the Catalyst, but he is. He explains that the Reapers are his solution. Every fifty thousand years, the Reapers come and destroy almost all life, usually leaving some behind. In the last cycle, the Reapers took out the Protheans, but left us here. He explains to me that his solution won't work anymore, since I am the first organic to meet the Catalyst. He gives me the first option, destroy. This will destroy the Reapers, but it will destroy all synthetic life in the process. I think of Joker, and his girlfriend EDI. If I choose to destroy the Reapers, I'll be losing a great friend in EDI. He gives me another option, control. If I choose to control the Reapers, my body will perish, but my mind and soul will live in the Reapers, I can control them and end this war. He gives me a third and final option, synthesis. I can add my energy to the Crucible and kill myself, but it will give synthetics and organics the same DNA, so we can live the rest of life in peace. All of this is overwhelming, but I know there is only one true option. I walk over the the explosive tank and start to shoot it, this will destroy the Reapers. This is what my whole journey has been about, and how it has to end. As I shoot the tank, I think of my friends, allies, family and everyone else who I've known on this mission.

As the tank explodes, the Crucible fires. The Citadel gets blown away, and I'm sent flying out of it. As I look around I see the Alliance ships fly away, along with the Normandy. I realize this is the end for me...this is the end for Commander Shepard...I fall towards Earth bracing for death.


	2. Chapter 1

Mass Effect: Hope  
Chapter 1: Graduation

Author's Note: This chapter is short simply because, it's just the introduction. Some chapters will be short, others will be long. Anyway this is the first chapter of Mass Effect: Hope. I have been planning this for a while now, and I can't wait to show you how this all ends. There will be surprises, twists and turns, and it should be a good ride! Thanks for reading!

"N7 Graduates, you are gathered here today.." the voice goes on, but I'm not really paying attention. It's been twenty years since the Reaper War. The war where Commander Shepard made his great sacrifice to save the galaxy from extinction. I get called up to the stage, I look around at my fellow allies. They all joined this program, the same reason I did. Ever since the Reaper War, we've wanted to protect the galaxy from whatever threat it may face. "Blair Carver...considering you are one of the top graduates, would you like to make a speech?" the man asks me. I didn't know I had to make a speech, but the students demand one. "Graduates, students, teachers, everyone. We've been through a lot together, whether that be the hell we went through to reach today, or the good times we had, it was worth it. To the graduates, we are standing here today because you endured what others may find impossible, you are an N7! We will protect this galaxy with everything we've got and no one will get in our way!" The graduates scream "hell yeah!" and cheer me on.

During the graduation party I talk with Admiral Hackett, the man who taught me a lot of what I know. "You know, you remind me a lot of him." Hackett says. "Who?" I respond. "Commander Shepard, no one has shown as much dedication to this program as he did." Hackett responds. "Thanks, that means a lot coming from you sir!" I say. "Have you ever thought about becoming a commander?" Hackett asks. "Um...well, yeah! It would be great to lead a crew on missions, to explore and protect the galaxy." I say with excitement. "Well considering all you know about the rank, and your dedication, how would you like to be the youngest commander in history? I've already got everything setup, and all I need is your approval." My first thought was that I'm too young for this, me being twenty four and all, but this is what I wanted ever since I started the N7 program. "Yes sir, I gladly accept the offer." Hackett offers a handshake and I accept it. "When you are ready, visit the Citadel to meet your crew and see your ship, but don't take too long...Commander Carver." "Thank you sir, I won't let you down!" As I say that Hackett walks away. "Hey man!" yells Drake Vega. Drake is the son of Ashley Williams and James Vega, the served Commander Shepard during the Reaper War. I consider this guy my best friend. "What's up Drake?" I ask. "Just heard you became the youngest commander in history...news flies around here fast y'know." he says. "Well it's true, I could use a guy like you on my team Drake." "Really? Thank you! Hey, I got some folks who would like to meet you." Just as Drake finishes his sentence, Ashley and James walk up to me, I've never talked to them before. "Hello...Commander, it's been so long since I called someone that." Ashley says. "Congrats man, that's a huge accomplishment, I didn't even get that when I graduated the N7 program, and that was fifteen years ago!" says James. "Oh James, stop complaining, this is a big moment for him." Ashley says. "I know Lola, I'm just messing with him." James says. "Well we better get going and check out the other graduates, nice meeting you Blair." Ashley and James walk away. "I better go with them, but tell me when you get your ship, I'll be there." Drake walks away catching up with his parents. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the new commander?" It's Gregor Thaddeus, a student here at the N7 Program. I've always hated this guy, he gives off the wrong vibe. "Well aren't you lucky, you get to graduate, while I'm stuck here with these losers." he says. "Yeah, it feels good, now could you go away, you're ruining my moment." I say. "Fine, Mr. Bigshot has stuff to do...I see, I'll leave you to hit." Gregor walks away. I start to walk towards the party, but suddenly I am struck by behind, I collapse to the ground, I see Gregor being assaulted as well by men in black armor.

Suddenly I look towards the party, and a swarm of these shadowed thugs are swarming the place, one of them shoots a graduate, I couldn't make out who it was. "Ladies and gentlemen, this graduation is brought to you by random acts of violence, courtesy of the Apex Elite!" one of them says. I slowly get up and realize Gregor is being dragged away by these men in black. I try to catch up but they disappear into the night. Drake runs up to me and throws me a gun. "We've gotta stop these guys." he yells. I run towards the party, half of the people have been taken out. I start shooting at the Apex Elite, taking some out. But it's so dark, I can't see some of them clearly. One comes up behind and tries to stab me with his Omni-Blade, but Drake shoots him in the head. "Nice one Drake!" But as I look back to the front, no one is shooting these guys anymore...they have hostages, and are using them as shields. The person on the left was Admiral Hackett, the one in the middle was James Vega, and the one on the right was Ashley Williams. "What's the matter people, afraid to get a little blood on your hands? I thought you guys did whatever it took to save the galaxy...alright listen. We are going to play a game...a game called, "Death to Two" and the rules are simple, you choose two of these people for us to kill, then we leave." I can't take this, so I stand up. "Alright listen, let them go, and you'll walk out of here alive!" I say. "And who might you be?" the terrorist says back. "I am Commander Carver, and if you go through with this, I will be the guy who puts a bullet in all your heads!" I respond. "Oh muffin….the rules to this game don't say anything about us dying...but since you boldly stepped up, we're going to change the rules...kill them all!" "NOOO!" I hear Drake yell, but it's too late. The hostages are killed executioner style right in front of us. The Apex Elite run into the shadows and we see shuttles take off. Drake runs up to his parents trying to hold them in his arms one last time. I run to Hackett, but after realizing there is nothing I can do, I walk over to Drake. "Drake I'm….I'm so sorry." "It's not your fault….just...just leave me alone...I just need some time.

I walk away from Drake feeling so many different feelings. I feel anger, guilt, sadness, and everything in between. I will make the Apex Elite pay for everything they did here today...even if it means death for me. We arrange for a funeral the next day, It was tough seeing Drake actually cry. I've never seen him cry before, he had always been so happy, but he did watch his parents die right in front of him. As for Hackett, he's the guy who gave me this chance, and I'm not going to let it go to waste. My first mission is to take out the Apex Elite, and shut them down for good.


	3. Chapter 2

Mass Effect: Hope

Chapter 2: Distress Signal

Author's Note: I didn't feel that the last chapter had enough detail as I wanted after uploading it, so I'm going to try and put more detail as I go on, hopefully I'll succeed, thanks for reading.

After the funeral, me and Drake left for the Citadel to meet our crew and see our ship. We showed up at C-Sec and got our answers. "Hello Commander, I'm C-Sec Officer Caddell, I have been assigned to show you your ship, if you follow me into the elevator, we will be taken to the Docking Bay." We follow him into the elevator, I'm pretty excited so I ask him some questions. "So, what kind of ship do I have?" "You have the SSV Shepard, it's basically the Normandy with a few upgrades here and there. named after it's late Commander Shepard." I'm surprised, not only did I remind Hackett of Shepard, but now I'm flying his damn ship! "Wow Commander, will your luck ever run out?" Drake asks. "God, I hope not." I respond. "So, can you tell me who any of my crewmates are?" I ask. "You'll find out when you get there, I'm not even sure of the final details yet." he responds. "If I may ask Commander, but what will your first mission be?" he asks. "Well...I'm going to take out the Apex Elite, to get payback for there attack on the N7 Graduation." I respond. "And to get payback for my parents." Drake adds in. "Yeah, that too." I say. "Good, my brother was graduating from N7, he was one of the casualties." he says. "Don't worry, I'll kill one for you." I say. "Thanks Commander...that means a lot. Anyway we've arrived.

The elevator doors open and we walk into the Docking Bay, I right away focus on the Shepard. What an amazing ship, which used to be run by an amazing human being. "Well Commander, it was an honor meeting you, I wish you luck, and she's all yours now." Caddell offers a handshake, I accept it. "Thank you officer, I'll see you around." He nods and walks off. "Well Commander, this is it, we can continue, or just walk out now and join the military." Drake says, I laugh. "I've already accepted, it's too late to walk out now." I say. We walk up to the Shepard's entrance, and walk in. The crew is waiting for me right when we enter. The first person who catches my eye, is Jeff "Joker" Moreau. He was the original pilot of the Normandy SR-1, and the SR-2. "Joker? You are my pilot?" I say with astonishment. "Yes, Commander...I was about to retire, but they still needed the best pilot in the galaxy...but I will admit, my brittle bone disease is starting to get to me!" Joker says. "Wow, Joker, my dad used to talk about great of a pilot you are." Drake says. "Yeah, sorry about your parents, they were some of the best soldiers in the Alliance." Joker says. "It's alright, we're gonna make Apex Elite pay." Drake says. "Damn right, now if you'll excuse me, I gotta get back to the cockpit, wherever you wanna go Commander, just plot it on the galaxy map over there, and I'll take you there." Joker says. I salute Joker, and he salutes back and walks off. I walk down the line of crewmates greeting each of them, but one catches my eye...a turian! "A turian eh? What's your name?" I ask the turian. "Desian Vyril, the Shepard is a turian creation after all. I do calibrations down in the Main Battery, so if you need me I'll be there." Desian says. "Nice to meet you Desian, I think I'm gonna like you." I say. Desian chuckles. "Wait until you see my sniper shots, you'll love me even more." I laugh. "Well Commander, I'll be down in the Main Battery, contact me if you need anything." I nod and he walks off. "If you don't mind Commander, I'm going to check out the rest of the ship." Drake tells me. "Go ahead, I'll be in my cabin if you need anything."

I take the elevator up to the Captain's Cabin. When I reach the floor, I walk in. "Wow, this is just like I imagined." I say out loud. When I go towards the bed there is a package on it. I open it, it's my N7 armor! The armor was black, white, and red, the N7 colors. I looked at the rest of the room, there was a fish tank filled with various fish, a shelf that I could use for placing models of various ships, the SR-1 and SR-2 models were already in place. There was a terminal for my private messages, of course there wasn't any right now. I also got my own bathroom, not like it matters or anything. After getting use to the room, I decided to go talk to Joker. I got to the cockpit and he turned around in his chair. "Getting used to the ship Commander?" asks Joker. "Yeah, it's a beautiful ship, your a pretty lucky pilot." I say. "Yeah, if I had to fly another ship, I wouldn't be able to do it. I've pretty much flown it my whole life...it would be tough to give up, but I gotta retire at some point." Joker says. "For what, the benefits?" I ask jokingly. "That's the only positive I see from it. So your name is Blair Carver? Your parents sound pretty cool." "Yeah...they were killed in action a few years ago..." I say. "Oh, I'm sorry, I lost my father and girlfriend during the Reaper War." Joker says. "It's ok, I'm sorry to hear that." I say. "My girlfriend was a robot y'know," Joker says. I jump back a bit. "A robot?" I ask. "Yeah, Shepard gave me some weird looks too, but she was perfect, her name was EDI." Joker says. "Wow, well I'm sure she was great." I say. "Yeah, well the Crucible didn't agree with that...wait a second..." "What is it Joker!" I ask. "We've got a distress signal coming from Rannoch, home of the quarians. It looks like Apex Elite is invading!" Anger fills me. "Set course for Rannoch, I'll assemble a team!" I say "Yes sir!" Joker replies. "Drake, Desian, we are on course for Rannoch, grab your gear and get ready, they're under attack."

The Shepard speeds through a mass relay, and within seconds we are at Rannoch. "Alright squad, the Apex Elite are attacking Rannoch, we go in and prevent as many casualties as possible, and try to stop the Elite." I say. "Understood Commander." Drake says. When we land, we rush through the city we landed on. We finally reach the chaos, buildings being bombed, civilians being killed. "Alright team, LET'S MOVE!" We rush through killing every terrorist that gets in our way. One quarian gets shot in the leg. Drake jumps what seems like out of know where and slits the terroist's throat, and drags the quarian out of harms way. One building gets completely destroyed but a quarian and her child start running out. I look to the left and I was too late to even deliver a warning. The mother gets shot directly in the head. I run and kill the enemy and grab the kid and run. "Save my mother!" the kid cries. "I'm sorry kid." I reply I take the kid and give her to Drake. "Take her to the shuttle!" I yell. He nods and runs off. For a terrorist group these guys have a lot of troops, it's more like an army. We run through the city stopping and preventing as many causualties as possible. Desian points out something to me. "Commander, look!" I look, I see three Apex Elite members pushing around a female quarian. "Get your hands off me!" she screams. "Aw, whats the matter, afraid we're gonna damage your immune system?" they say. I run over and knock out one of the terrorists. "Who the hell are you?" the remaining ask. "I am Commander Carver, and I'm about to make you the Apex Defeat!" I proceed to shoot both of them in the legs, and hand my gun to the quarian. "Here, why don't you take the shots." I say. "For the homeworld, you boshtets!" The quarian shoots both guys in the head. "Nice shot!" I say. "Better then your Apex Defeat line." she says. Drake runs up from out of nowhere. "I'm sorry to interrupt you guys, but I got the quarian child on the shuttle, I called the Alliance, and they'll be her in a few, but we have to defend what we can before they get here!" Drake says. "Well since you know how to shoot a gun, wanna help?" I ask the quarian. "It's Eri'Rah. Sure!" I toss her a pistol. We defend what we can, we help as many quarians as we can, but it's not enough. "Where do they get all these guys?" Desian asks. "Beats me!" I say. Once the Alliance arrives they start to clean house. "Just like fish in a barrel." Drake says. "What?" Eri asks. "I don't know, it's an old human saying, my dad used to say it a lot." Drake responds. "I see..." Eri says.

After Alliance forces come the Apex Elite start to retreat and eventually leave. We help quarians safely get back to the houses that weren't destroyed, and promised that the Alliance would help with rebuilding efforts. I decide to check on the quarian child. "Hey, how are you feeling?" I ask. The child just looks at me and looks away. "Listen I..." "HEY!" I get interrupted. "Listen, I didn't get to thank for saving me back there...I didn't know what they were planning to do to me." "No problem Eri, and it's Commander Carver." I say. "Hey is that a child over there?" she asks. "Yeah, she lost her mother, and she's not speaking to me." I say. "Here, let me try, you humans don't have the quarian charm." She walks over the child. After about thirty seconds of talking the kid is crying and hugging Eri. She walks back. "Well, she'll be ok...listen...I hear your going to stop the Apex Elite." she says. "Yeah, it's going to be tough, but I plan on stopping them." I say. "Well...I was wondering if I could join you?" I jumped back. "You want to join us?" I ask. "Yes, us quarians are really good at engineering...plus I want to be there when you put a bullet in whatever boshtet is behind this!" she says. I think about declining, but I see through her red quarian mask that she's giving me the sad dog look. "Ok, fine...welcome to the SSV Shepard, Eri'Rah vas Shepard."


End file.
